Walk the Line: A Review

WALK THE LINE

"We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout". So begins Jackson, the duet by the country music legends Johnny and June Carter Cash. That song, along with others like Ring of Fire and Walk the Line, is a good chronicle of their at-times tempestuous lives, careers and marriage. Walk the Line, the biopic of this legendary musical figure and his better half, is a long film. However, it is also highly effective, with strong performances and a committed story.

Starting and almost ending with his 1968 concert at Folsom Prison, Walk the Line covers the life and times of John R. Cash (Joaquin Phoenix). As his band, the Tennessee Three, are playing his introductory music, Johnny seems lost in thought as he looks on a saw. That saw sparks memories of his early years in rural Arkansas. He has an abusive father, Ray (Robert Patrick), a faith-centered mother, Carrie (Shelby Lynne) and a beloved brother, Jack (Lucas Till). Times are tough and the Cash family struggles. Things get harder when Jack dies in a sawmill accident. Johnny or J.R. is guilt-stricken as he goes off to Germany to serve in the Air Force. Here, Johnny sneaks in a little songwriting, working on songs like Folsom Prison Blues. 

Upon returning from his tour of duty, Johnny marries Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin) and has four daughters. He also continues pursuing his music dreams. Vivian endures his efforts, barely hiding her irritation that Johnny isn't successful in door-to-door sales. Johnny finally, albeit shyly, goes to Sun Records to audition for its owner, Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts). His efforts at singing gospel flop, but when he breaks out Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny and his-then Tennessee Two players get a record contract. 

It also gets him touring with a group of other Sun Records singers. There's wild man Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne). There's the quieter Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton). One person not on Sun Records who is part of the tour is country music royalty June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). She is one of the members of the Carter Family, whom Johnny and Jack would listen to on the radio. June is more comedienne than singer, though she does sing. June, like Johnny, is married. He is clearly attracted to June. For her part, she is pleasant but, to use modern parlance, puts him in the friend zone.

Johnny's continuing success and touring strain his marriage. His growing fixation for the now-divorced June do not help. She agrees to keep performing and touring with Cash despite his on-stage antics. He for example humiliated her (though I think unintentionally) when he pressured her into performing Time's A-Wastin' with him. That song had been a duet between her and her first husband. Johnny's growing pill-popping did not help.

Despite common sense, June does once succumb to the temptations of the flesh. She is also irritated by the behavior of not just Johnny but of the other tourmates. June works out her feelings by writing Ring of Fire. Johnny works out his feelings by getting arrested for bringing prescription drugs from Mexico and ultimately divorcing Vivian. He buys a secluded home and attempts to break generational curses. Mother Maybelle Carter (Sandra Ellis Lafferty) gets June to see that Johnny and June need each other. Will Johnny reconcile himself to God and his own past?

Walk the Line is more than a biographical film about one of America's greatest musical artists. It is also a love story. It is a very troubled love story in some ways. Johnny Cash was sometimes very inconsiderate of June. He more than once put her in uncomfortable and difficult situations. He pursued her relentlessly. It is a credit to director/cowriter James Mangold and his cowriter Gill Dennis that Cash did not come across as almost a stalker. I think it is because they adapted Cash's autobiographies Man in Black and Cash: The Autobiography, which I figure did not spare Cash from sometimes ruthless self-examination. 

Nevertheless, Walk the Line is a love story. For as awful as Johnny Cash was to others and to himself, we see in Joaquin Phoenix's performance a man driven by his own doubts and talent. In some ways, Phoenix's Cash is very tender, sweet, and deeply hurt. In other ways, he is petulant, arrogant, and self-absorbed. Phoenix plays Cash with no mimicry or impersonation. Instead, his performance is more evocative of the man.

This goes into whenever Phoenix sings. Johnny Cash had a distinct voice, his bass-baritone rumbling through the very core of him. Phoenix was not able to sing as low as Johnny Cash could. His voice is slightly higher than Cash's. That being said, Phoenix sounds similar to Cash. That lends a strong sense of authenticity whenever he performs either with June or by himself. Physically, Phoenix does an exceptional job. He gets Cash's distinct movements and guitar playing pretty much perfectly.

As a figure, Joaquin Phoenix shows Johnny Cash as troubled but also searching, be it for redemption, forgiveness or June Carter. He has wonderful moments when showing Cash's hesitancy and nervousness when first performing before a paying audience. Phoenix also does well when auditioning for Sam Phillips. I am dubious that Cash improvised Folsom Prison Blues after his gospel number failed to impress. That might be a little dramatic license. However, Cash's mix of frustration, fear and arrogance all came through quite well.

Joaquin Phoenix received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance. His costar, Reese Witherspoon, won Best Actress for her turn as June Carter. I cannot say whether or not Witherspoon should have won. I can say that, based on the performance, the nomination itself was correct. June Carter first appears about thirty minutes into Walk the Line.  Given that the film runs about two hours and fifteen minutes, her appearance is held back for some time. Despite that, Reese Witherspoon is excellent in the role. 

She brings June's insecurity and struggles over her relationship with Cash. There are many positive moments in Walk the Line for Witherspoon. She can handle the comedy parts that June would perform on stage. She can also handle the musical parts just as well as Phoenix can. Witherspoon shows equal vocal dexterity when dueting with Phoenix's Cash on such songs as It Ain't Me Babe or Jackson. When she performs solo, such as with Wildwood Flower or working out Ring of Fire, Witherspoon is just as capable of holding the audience.

I should say that I am not as familiar with June Carter Cash's voice as I am with Johnny Cash's. However, I trust that Witherspoon did a strong approximation of it. 

What makes Witherspoon's performance great is that she makes June Carter a woman in full. She does this with small moments, such as when she apologizes to a shopper for her divorce. June did make a full effort to live out a Christian life but, like all of us, stumbled. The hurt and embarrassment that she shows is gentle. June Carter, however, is no shrinking violet. She comes from a performing family with decades of experience. As such, June is incensed when she sees Johnny, Jerry Lee Lewis and others boozed up before a matinee. Staring them down like an irate mother, she lets them know clearly that they are not professional. She culminates this by launching the empty beer bottles at the startled men. 

Reese Witherspoon makes June Carter that blend of strong and vulnerable. She is, to quote another country song, a good-hearted woman in love with a good timing man.  

Overall, I think all the performances were good. Robert Patrick's Ray is cruel and hard, but he also sees his son disappearing into failure. I am of a mixed mind when it comes to Ginnifer Goodwin as Vivian Cash. She was good in the role and played the role as directed. However, I wonder if perhaps Walk the Line leaned too far into trying to make her something of a villain. More than once, she came across as almost shrewish and pretty much non-supportive of her husband. 

James Mangold does wonderful work in directing his cast. He also does well with some of the visuals. He films Johnny Cash's on-stage meltdown in a frenetic, chaotic way, reflecting the tumult in his life. In a film about two musicians, it is not surprising to have many musical numbers. Part of me thinks that these numbers lengthen Walk the Line. Part of me, however, asks what songs or performances I would cut. 

Perhaps some of the tour artists' offstage antics. I might also have cut out Shooter Jennings' cameo as his father Waylon Jennings.

Those are minor points. I do not know if Johnny and June Carter Cash were ever called or thought of as Country Music Royalty. It would not surprise me if they were considered as such. Walk the Line is a moving, well-acted and well-sung tale of this great love story. The Man in Black and the Wildwood Flower made for a great duo. Walk the Line makes for a great film.

Johnny Cash: 1932-2003
June Carter Cash: 1929-2003

DECISION: B+

Young Washington: A Review

YOUNG WASHINGTON

First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. Thus George Washington, first President of the United States, was eulogized by his fellow Founding Father Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee. Long before he was held up as the Father of Our Country, George Washington was just a young man aiming to rise above his station. Young Washington is a well-acted and filmed biopic that while long is very much worth the effort.

July 9, 1755, the Pennsylvania wilderness. A sickly young man is astonished to find himself in the fog of war. He forgets about his health problems to find himself in the midst of fierce battle. How did this young man find himself here, and will he listen to commanders who tell him that the Virginia men are lost?

We then go twelve years earlier. Here, a young man named George Washington suffers the loss of his father. His older half-brother Lawrence (John Foss) takes young George under his wing. George Washington will not be among the elites. He is not British, has no land to his own name and does not have the background to enter into the upper echelons of society. He does not even have enough, thanks to his father's death, for a formal education. George, however, has Lawrence's extensive library.

Now, he grows into a tall and handsome man. Young George Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) essentially crashes the lavish dinner party of Lord Halifax (Kelsey Grammer). He also meets the feisty and outspoken Sally Cary (Mia Rodgers). They flirt in the way of the times, with quick repartee and subtle glances. Lord Halifax agrees to have Washington survey uncharted lands in the Ohio valley. George goes as a surveyor with his friend Chris Gist (Leo Hanna). They survive the harsh winter. They survive dealings with the Native Americans, especially Half-King Tanacharison (Ryan Begay).

The natives may have no love of the British, but they hate the French more. The French are now making incursions onto disputed and British territory. George informs Governor Robert Dinwittie (Ben Kingsley). George, technically already in the Virginia militia, is to inform the French that they are to leave. From that, George Washington finds himself leading men. He makes clear that no shots are to be fired, but someone, somewhere, does fire the shot that triggers the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War).

This is a terrible start for George. He loses the battle to hold his newly created Fort Necessity. He loses his closest friend. He also loses Sally to Lord Fairfax's son William (Joel Smallbone). Demoralized, depressed and with Lawrence dead, George retreats. His mother Mary (Mary-Louise Parker) once opposed his involvement in war. Now, she urges her son to rally and return. He does so, at a lower rank than when he started. Now as aide-de-camp to the haughty General Braddock (Andy Serkis), we return to the start of Young Washington. Will this young man in a hurry find himself protected by God? Will he turn the tide of battle, if not history?

Young Washington hits on almost all levels. It is entertaining. It is exciting. It is beautifully shot. It is well-acted. One aspect that Young Washington does well is that it neither deifies nor demonizes the title character. This George Washington is not deconstructed into a dark figure of evil. This George Washington, however, is not held aloft as some remote, aloof figure. Instead, this George Washington is a surprisingly relatable figure.

He is someone who knows that he is not among the elites. Particularly early on, George Washington is reminded in action and words of his surprisingly low rank. He is a second-born son with no title, no rank, no real social position or standing in society. His half-brother Lawrence, Governor Dinwiddie informs him, can obtain a military commission owing to his formal education and property. Young George has neither, so such a position would be impossible. He is also a man in love with a woman who will not be available. Long before The Great Gatsby, young Washington learned that "rich girls don't marry poor boys".

Granted, that line came from the 1974 film version and not from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. The idea, however, still holds true. 

What one sees in Young Washington is not a monument. They also do not see some sort of klutz, bumbling his way through whatever situation he is in. Instead, we see the future President as an intelligent, ambition figure, well-spoken and at times frustrated by the limitations he faces. He also is like us, crashing parties and mourning friends. He may not have cut down a cherry tree, but he does take out his frustrations by swinging axes at lumber. This young Washington is calm and steady. He is also surprisingly romantic. 

William Franklyn-Miller does an absolutely wonderful job as young George Washington. He speaks in a quiet but firm manner. He shows Washington to be quite mature. However, Franklyn-Miller also shows George Washington to not be above misjudgments, frustrations and even fears. The scene where he sees his dear friend die will be deeply moving to the viewer. 

As a side note, Young Washington has a visually beautiful scene when he buries and prays over the grave of his friend as Fort Necessity is burned to the ground. This scene is visually splendid. It is also, I think, symbolic of where George Washington was at the moment. I do not know if that was the intention of director Jon Erwin or those of Erwin's cowriters Diederik Hoogstraten and Tom Provost. That, however, for me was the end result.

Going back to William Franklyn-Miller, his performance allowed for George Washington to be romantic without being foolish. He has a soft manner exchanging witty lines with Mia Rodgers' Sally. They, however, were not in some kind of rom-com manner. Instead, they both showed George and Sally as being bright, articulate and aware of the other's feelings without slipping into farce.

I think all the performances in Young Washington were excellent. Ben Kingsley and Andy Serkis are probably the biggest names in the cast. Their roles were relatively small. However, both of them gave their characters a reality to them. Kingsley's Dinwiddie was sometimes sharp with young Washington. He did not play him as a mentor but as a figure making sure that his interests lined up with the Crown's interests. If that meant bending things to allow this colonial some military power, so be it. Serkis might have slipped a bit into some ham as General Braddock. However, I think that is how the role was meant to be seen as. 

Kelsey Grammer and Joel Smallbone had smaller roles as the Fairfax father and son. They did make the most of their screentime. Grammer came across as well-meaning and favorable towards the bright young man. That did not mean that Lord Fairfax would think he would be a better suitor than his slightly bitchy son, however. It is interesting how well the music worked in the film. When George learns that Sally is betrothed to William Fairfax, the chamber music starts rising. That is a clever touch. It suggests George's disappointment blocking out the words that pain him to hear. 

In her small role of Mary Washington, Mary-Louise Parker excels as the woman who frets for her son but ends up encouraging him to seek out God's will for his life. The same goes for John Foss as the wise and caring Lawrence Washington, his half-brother and father figure. We also get, not exactly comic relief, but a nice double-act of David and Henry Frisk (Angus Castle-Doughty and Fearghal Geraghty). They are average men, slightly sarcastic and salty, who are not afraid to call things as they are. They also are proud Virginians who will stand with one of their own. Leo Hanna's Christopher Gist is also well-acted. He is a loyal friend to George who will stay with him to the bitter end.

Young Washington moves well to where one barely notices the two-hour plus runtime. The battle sequences are exciting and well-filmed. It might have spent perhaps a bit more time in the Sally/George romance than needed. It might have thrown in perhaps a bit too much foreshadowing. "We are pawns, George, but even pawns can take a king", Lawrence tells young George when teaching him chess. It might have taken a bit long to get back to where Young Washington began.  

Overall, though, Young Washington is a well-crafted biopic of the Father of Our Country. On just about every level, Young Washington will entertain and bring life to a figure too often seen as walking marble.

1732-1799

DECISION: B+

To Kill a Mockingbird: A Review (Review #2186)

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

There are some books, some films, and some film adaptations that have become so beloved that they end up enshrined in a pantheon of greatness. To Kill a Mockingbird is such a book, film and film adaptation. This tale of a small Southern town with a quietly towering figure still has as great a power to move now as it did when released.

Told in sporadic voiceover by the adult Jean Louise Finch or Scout (Kim Hunter), we hear her story. Young Scout (Mary Badham) is a tomboy in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. She has an older brother, Jem (Phillip Alford), whom she has a love-hate relationship (mostly love). She also has her father, whom she and Jem openly call "Atticus" (Gregory Peck). Atticus is a lawyer, well-spoken and well-educated. However, he is like all his neighbors in that he has little in terms of money. To be fair, he is probably better off than most of Maycomb, but not by much.

What Atticus does have is love, patience and a moral certainty that cannot ever be shaken. He is a widower who is open about everything to his children. Atticus may not play football for the Methodists, but he cares and protects them. He cannot fully stop them from looking in on the mysterious Boo Radley. He is a near-mythic figure of terror to the community. Jem, however, keeps pushing to see this shadowy man. He, along with Scout and their summer neighbor friend Dill (John Megna) come close to danger both from Boo and from Scout's own bluntness about everything.

One thing that not even Atticus can protect them from is the case of Tom Robinson (Brock Peters). Tom is a black man who stands accused of violating Mayella Ewell (Collin Wilcox), a white woman. Mayella's father, Robert E. Lee "Bob" Ewell (James Anderson) is openly racist and a violent drunk. Atticus Finch will defend Tom Robinson against these charges. As the trial goes on, we see and hear from both sides.

We see that Tom would not have been physically able to commit the crime. However, he is a black man, accused of violating a white woman. Worse, he is a black man who publicly expressed sorrow for a white person. That is enough to convict him. Tom comes to a tragic end. That fate may also fall on Jem and Scout. Will they be able to survive the darkness of man? What role will the hereto mysterious Arthur "Boo" Radley (Robert Duvall) play in the end?

To Kill a Mockingbird, I think, is going through a reevaluation. Not all that reevaluation is positive. For decades, Atticus Finch was seen as the embodiment of all moral goodness. The American Film Institute voted him the Greatest Screen Hero of All Time. Generations of lawyers have said that Atticus Finch, and Gregory Peck's performance, inspired them to enter law.

Now, Atticus is seen in less saintly light. He is called a "white savior", the noble figure almost come down from Heaven to save (or at least try to) the poor, defenseless black man. Horton Foote's Oscar-winning adaptation of Harper Lee's novel was not going to change Atticus' nobility and purpose. Foote, for example, was not about to give us Tom Robinson's perspective. Far from it. Tom Robinson as portrayed by Brock Peters was so docile and accepting of his fate that his suffering and passivity seem to suggest a curious nobility. 

Tom Robinson must suffer so that Atticus Finch can save him and pick up that white man's burden.

This perception is not helped by Gregory Peck's performance. Peck has been lauded, if not downright worshipped, for his Oscar winning role of Atticus Finch. He has a bravura scene when he does his closing arguments. His monologue runs about six minutes. As he intones rather grandly and loftily about how our courts are "our great levelers", I began to wonder if Atticus was aware of where he was and who he was talking to. The jury not of Robinson's peers were also not of Finch's peers. These were rural men, who were not as well-educated and verbally dexterous as Atticus Finch. Earlier, there was a powerful scene where rural men (perhaps some who were now on the jury) came close to lynching Tom Robinson. Now, Atticus Finch is attempting to do what was probably impossible: get an all-white jury to acquit a black man accused of molesting a white woman.

It has been a long time since I read Harper Lee's novel. Therefore, I do not know if Atticus Finch's closing argument is close to what was in the novel. That being said, Finch came across not as noble. It came across as almost pompous bordering on self-righteous. I got the sense that Finch was, probably inadvertently, talking down to his audience. Atticus Finch was not about to adopt a folksy, pleasant manner to try and win over a pretty hostile audience. Instead, Atticus Finch was going to thunder at them. He did not appeal to the better angels of their nature. He was attempting to appeal to his moral and intellectual superiority over them. "In the name of GOD, do your duty! In the name of God, believe Tom Robinson".  

In retrospect, this closing speech is far from great. It is great in that the ideals that Finch is expressing are right. It is wrong, however, in that his audience was not going to be receptive to it. Peck's Atticus Finch came across here as aloof and thinking himself superior to everyone around him. "I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our court and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working REALITY!", he tells the jurors. At that point, I wondered if he, albeit accidentally, insulted the jurors by suggesting that he knew that they were not going to have integrity to make the right decision based on the evidence. 

When he is playing the morally upright Atticus Finch, Gregory Peck is good but not great. Peck is much better when working with the children. He has a still serious demeanor. However, he allows a warmth, compassion and caring to come through. It is curious to me that Peck is more lauded for his courtroom scenes than his scenes with the child actors. 

Each of the child actors does standout work. It is a credit to the three of them, especially given that two of them were newcomers. Mary Badham received an Oscar nomination for her turn as Scout. She was wonderful as the tomboy who was blunt but unaware of how insulting she could sometimes be. Her great scene is when she talks to one of Tom Robinson's potential lynchers. Her mix of kindness and naivete as she compliments his son is deeply moving. Phillip Alford was not nominated for his turn as Jem. That surprises me as To Kill a Mockingbird is, to me, surprisingly Jem-centered. His performance is of someone more aware of things, but not by much. He is adventurous and courageous, sometimes dismissive of his sister and sometimes deeply protective of her. John Megna as Dill also did well. He was the only child actor with experience. He made Dill into this insecure figure who yearned for friendship.

Director Robert Mulligan got his other actors to give strong performances. In her big scene, Collin Wilcox made Mayella someone who brought out both sympathy and antagonism against her. She was frightened but also, in her way, defiant. Brock Peters' turn did unfortunately make Tom Robinson very docile. It was a good but not great performance. Still, he did better than James Anderson's Bob Ewell. He seemed exaggerated in his virulent hatred and menace. However, as that was the character, I cut him some slack. To Kill a Mockingbird was Robert Duvall's debut in his silent performance of Boo Radley. While it was a single scene, he communicated Boo's strangeness mixed with gentility well. 

To Kill a Mockingbird has other elements that work so wonderfully. Elmer Bernstein's score gives the film a mix of nostalgia and innocence. It is soft, tender and sweet, evoking a sense of childhood and of an adult looking back. 

To Kill a Mockingbird is a deeply moving and beautiful film. I think that perhaps it has been romanticized a bit more than it should be. After sixty years, the film still stands as a chronicle of how adults can do so much wrong but still end up doing right. One can see why it is still so beloved. 

DECISION: A-

Ike: Countdown to D-Day. The Television Movie

IKE: COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY

The recent film Pressure inspired me to watch another production centered around how June 6, 1944, became the longest day. Ike: Countdown to D-Day takes the events surrounding the Allied invasion of Normandy and shapes them into strong viewing.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Tom Selleck) very reluctantly assumes the post of Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. He does so under the understanding that the entire operation be under his sole command. Fortunately, he has a supporter in British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Ian Mune), who agrees. However, British Field Marshal Bernard "Monty" Montgomery (Bruce Phillips) is less than thrilled at this idea. Nevertheless, Eisenhower and Montgomery begin the plans for the Allied invasion of occupied France.

Ike has to endure many divas in uniform. There is the grandiose Montgomery. Then there is the slap-happy General George S. Patton (Gerald McRainey). He has been making dubious comments to the press on how the post-war world will be run by the Anglo-American alliance. This irks Ike due to these potentially racial overtones. Patton appears almost weepy at not being part of the final assault. Ike knows he's being played but goes along. He knows Patton is a proud man. He also knows that he will be needed post-invasion.

The plans for Operation Overlord continue. Eisenhower has to make some difficult personnel decisions. One general, Henry Miller (Paul Gittins) has been too loose with his talk while liquored up. French General Charles de Gaulle (George Chevstov) has the gall to say the plans are terrible. Fortunately, Churchill and Their Majesties George VI (Mick Rose) and Queen Elizabeth (Carol Seay) see that the Allies have good leadership for this great crusade.

As time for the invasion grows closer, Ike must make still more hard choices. Will the invasion have to be postponed? Will the invasion ultimately work? The troops about to be sent off to Normandy have been told not to talk to Eisenhower about personal matters. Despite this, Ike mingles with the troops and asks them about themselves. Ike's loyal aide Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (Timothy Bottoms) is astonished at this. With that, D-Day finally arrives, and whether or not Dwight D. Eisenhower will have to bear the blame or share the glory is up to those men storming the beaches.

Ike: Countdown to D-Day is interesting in that Tom Selleck neither looks nor sounds like General Eisenhower, yet he is believable in the role. I think Selleck's success comes not from an attempted impersonation or mimicry. Instead, Selleck concentrated on the man himself. Selleck makes Eisenhower into a calm, measured man. He is not unaware of the terrible cost that the invasion will carry. He is patient when dealing with men who think themselves greater. However, Selleck's Eisenhower manages to keep sight of the mission as a whole.

There is a remarkable level of maturity in Countdown to D-Day. All the actors treat the scenario with respect. That is not to say that they are somber. The film's script by Lionel Chetwynd wisely kept some amusing moments. Of particular note is when Montgomery insisted that Eisenhower put out his cigarette before receiving the King and Queen. Once George VI and Elizabeth arrive, His Majesty and Churchill immediately light up their own cigarettes and cigars. One chuckles at how Montgomery, who finds smoking offensive, has to endure this unintended affront by His Majesty and his Prime Minister.

Robert Harmon, who earned an Emmy nomination for Countdown to D-Day, more than merited that recognition. All the performances were first-rate. Tom Selleck blended a mix of commanding with almost humility as Eisenhower. At the presentation to Their Majesties on Operation Overlord, the King expresses concern over the projected high casualties. Eisenhower replies from the stage that he too is concerned. He expresses how the young men from Britain, America and Canada may not return, but that it is the necessary cost, albeit a deeply painful one.

The other actors also do fine work. Timothy Bottoms' Beetle is patient and supportive to the general. He, Selleck and Gerald McRainey share a wonderful scene. McRainey as Patton seems to want to almost break down in tears at the thought of not being in battle. He appears to be almost a softy behind the bravado. As he leaves Eisenhower's office still holding on to his command, Patton appears to think that he has pulled a fast one on Ike. Bettle questions Ike about all this. Eisenhower, perhaps resigned to things, admits that Patton thinks he's pulled a fast one. However, Eisenhower does not rage or gloat. He merely accepts.

Harmon also has great camerawork in Countdown to D-Day. An especially good sequence is when Group Captain James Stagg (Christopher Baker) is giving his weather report to the commanders. The camera flows beautifully, showing a besieged Eisenhower among all the various generals, each with their own concerns and timetables.

As a side note, it is interesting that in Countdown to D-Day, Stagg was important but not a major player. In the recent Pressure, he was made the central figure. In the former, Stagg's information is necessary but part of the overall plan. In the latter, it appears that his word alone metaphorically turned the tide of history. In Countdown to D-Day, it works. In Pressure, it does not. Yet, I digress.

Ike: Countdown to D-Day is a strong production. It treats the men with respect without being reverential. They are not shown as important, lofty figures aware of their importance to the world. Instead, they are shown as surprisingly ordinary men tasked with an extraordinary mission. Those portrayed in Ike: Countdown to D-Day were treated with intelligence and respect. 

1890-1969

8/10

Dead of Winter (2025): A Review (Review #2185)

DEAD OF WINTER (2025)

When I first saw Dead of Winter, I thought that it might have made for a good short film but not that great for a feature film. Upon a second viewing, I think Dead of Winter makes for a good feature film. Strong performances and a smoothly flowing story make Dead of Winter a well-crafted film that is better than I initially remembered. 

Barb Lunquist (Emma Thompson) is driving to a remote Minnesota lake. It is winter here, but Barb has a mission that reveals itself in a series of flashbacks. A quick blizzard gets her a bit lost. The memories of her long love affair with Karl also distract her.

Barb comes upon a remote cabin and is concerned with some blood that she sees in the snow. The remote mountain man in the Camo Jacket (Marc Menchaca) quickly tells her where the lake she's looking for is and tells her that the blood is from an animal. Barb might not be convinced but won't get further involved. 

Things take a sudden turn when Barb does arrive at the frozen lake and begins ice fishing. She struggles with her memories of Karl. Even in her grief, however, she cannot ignore how Camo Jacket is chasing after a young girl whose arms are tied. Camo Jacket, oblivious to everything save this girl, doesn't see that he was watched. Barb now has to do something. 

Barb now finds this hostage at Camo Jacket's cabin. She assures the young girl that she will not abandon her but will get help. She also sees Purple Lady (Judy Greer), the brains behind the kidnapping. It becomes a cat-and-mouse game between Barb and Purple Lady/Camo Jacket (the former wearing a large purple parka). Each gets the upper hand from time to time, but time is running out for all concerned.

Why is the young girl named Leah (Laurel Marsden) being held prisoner? Purple Lady plans to harvest Leah's liver to save her own life. Others both directly and not directly involved in Purple Lady's deranged scheme will not live to tell their tale. The battle to save Leah will culminate at that frozen lake. Here, the Widow Lundquist will fulfill her late husband's final wish with his ashes, but who will live and who will die?

After initially seeing Dead of Winter with my family as a "mystery movie", our consensus was that it was not very good. After seeing it a second time, I thought better of the film. I think we were displeased with the dour nature and bleak ending. Dead of Winter is still a downer of a film. It also has those flashbacks between the young Barb Sorensen (Gaia Wise) and young Karl Lunquist (Cuan Hosty-Blaney) pop in more times than I think necessary. 

That being said, I appreciated more in Dead of Winter than the first time that I saw it. At the top of that list is Emma Thompson's performance. On both a technical and emotional level, Thompson does very well in the role of Barb. She maintains a solid American Midwest accent that would not be out of place in Fargo. She makes Barb into the embodiment of "Minnesota nice", with her not even cursing beyond a "heck" or "darn". I think that maybe she did use foul language once, but that was probably the extend of her vocal vulgarity.

Her performance works well throughout. She can express Barb's loss and emotional despair with just a glance. She can also show strength and common sense when having to comfort Leah or face off against Purple Lady. She even blends both when dealing with Camo Jacket, whom we discover is Purple Lady's henpecked husband.

Judy Greer is also quite strong as Purple Lady. She is villainous. However, we also see Purple Lady's desperation in doing all that she can to survive. Marc Menchaca is in turns frightening and sympathetic as Camo Jacket. He is as he says he is, which is not a bad man. He is just a very weak man. Laurel Marsden does well as the frightened Leah, desperate to live despite her own past troubles.

Credit should be given to director Brian Kirk for guiding his actors to strong performances. He also kept things flowing mostly well given that Dead of Winter is only 98 minutes long. Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb's screenplay also gives us a good deal of the various characters' backstories without it being forced. Again, I could argue that Barb's flashbacks do pop up a bit more than necessary. Still, that Dead of Winter did not slip into farce is a credit to everyone involved.

I think that Dead of Winter is a good albeit downbeat film. It is in some ways as sparse as the Minnesota winter it is set in. That downbeat manner might put some people off. It did my family when we first saw it. Overall, though, I think Dead of Winter is a strong but bleak film that should be given a chance. 

DECISION: B+

Up Close & Personal: A Review

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

Jessic Savitch was a pioneer in television journalism for women. She was also a highly troubled woman. Her story has been told in the television film Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story. Savitch's story was also the basis for Up Close and Personal, allegedly. It is hard to think that a woman who struggled with chemical dependency and died in a car accident at age 36 was the same figure as that in Up Close and Personal. Glossy to the point of parody, Up Close and Personal may be now best remembered as being one of Diane Warren's seventeen (as of this writing) failed Best Original Song nominations.

Using the framing device of an interview that will feature in things later, we learn the story of Tally Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer). She started as Sallyanne Atwater from Reno, with dreams of being a broadcast journalist. However, Sallyanne was poor, had no education beyond a few community college courses and no background to speak of. What she had was moxie. Sallyanne made a demo tape and sent it to every station that she could think of.

Only one station in Miami shows even a modicum of interest. With that, our plucky heroine heads off to WMIA to work under Warren Justice (Robert Redford). "Coming, sweetheart?", he tells Sally as she follows him around and learns the ropes of broadcast television news. Sally wants to be on camera, but for now, she serves coffee and answers phones. She finally gets her chance when Sally agrees to don a raincoat and be the station weathergirl. Unfortunately, she gets flustered, nervous and tongue-tied at her debut. She is so high-strung that she mumbles her own name as "Tally". Thus, Tally Atwater begins her climb to being Queen of Miami News.

Her on-air fight with experienced co-anchor Rob Sullivan (Scott Bryce) pushes her to seek greener pastures. That search leads to agent Bucky Terranova (Joe Mantegna). He gets Tally a new job in Philadelphia, which is a bigger market. Tally and Warren for their part finally indulge in the pleasures of the flesh, Because You Loved Me playing all around their romantic idyll. 

Now in Philly, Tally struggles with the new environment. She also struggles with Marcia McGrath (Stockard Channing). Marcia is the Queen of Philadelphia News, and she is not about to have a usurper taking her down. Tally is crumbling, so Warren sweeps in to save her and maintain being her mentor and lover. At last, Tally and Warren marry. Marcia, perhaps seeing the inevitable, moves on and Tally takes over. 

Things, however, come to a head when Tally and her loyal cameraman Ned (Glenn Plummer) go to a prison for a "day in the life" segment. Their interviewee is Fernando Buttanda (Raymond Cruz). He had been previously interviewed by Tally in Miami when his baby mama gave birth to the first baby born in the New Year. Fernando had also been the cause of the Tally/Rob on-air fight. During the recording, a prison riot breaks out, trapping Tally and Ned. Will Tally make it out alive? Will Warren end up living long enough to see Tally be interviewed Up Close and Personal?

Except for Warren's end not coming from suicide, Up Close & Personal might as well be a broadcast news remake of A Star is Born. I do not think that the film ends with her saying, "I am Mrs. Warren Justice", but I wouldn't have put it past screenwriters Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne to have at least thought to do so. The interview that opens and closes the film is, we find, is part of a Warren Justice tribute. In many ways, Up Close & Personal follows the A Star is Born plotline. Eager, young and inexperienced female finds an older, experienced male mentor. They fall in love. Her career rises. He dies.

Granted, Warren's career did not slump unlike the male protagonist in all four A Star is Born versions. Apart from that though, both films veer pretty close to being the same story. We even get Michelle Pfeiffer sing, belting out The Impossible Dream at a high school football field to an amused Warren. As someone who unironically loves Grease 2, I do not object.

Up Close & Personal has almost nothing to make anyone think that it was even "suggested by Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch". In real life, it was Jessica Savitch that met an untimely and tragic end. Here, it is Warren who meets a safely distant end.

I do not mind sappy stories. I mind weak sappy stories. Michelle Pfieffer and Robert Redford are very pretty people. They are also twenty-two years apart in age (Redford was 60 and Pfieffer 38 at the time). I figure audiences at the time did not mind seeing them as a romantic couple. I found the idea that Tally would be enthralled with Warren a bit ludicrous. 

I will say that Michelle Pfieffer came out best given the material she had to work with. She brought a believability to Tally's hesitancy and unsure manner. I do object to how Tally was made into such a klutz that she literally could not pronounce her own name when the camera light hit her. I can also object that, for someone who prided herself on being bilingual, she made a ghastly mistake. When interviewing Fernando, she tells him "I'm short on practice" in Spanish when downplaying her language skills. She says, "Me falta practica". It should be pronounced "Meh falta practica" as the Spanish "E" is what in English would be a short E sound (as in "Bed" or "Red"). 

My guess is that Pfieffer and director Jon Avent read the word which is spelled "me" and pronounced it as they would in English for "myself". In Up Close & Personal, she pronounces it as "me", which is wrong. It is surprising that no one caught that. I figure people were too wrapped up in how beautiful our lovers were. Yet, I digress.

Michelle Pfieffer did well with what she had. Robert Redford frankly looked bored. For how much they were supposed to be in love, I did not see much if any chemistry between them. A particularly bad moment is when Warren goes to Reno to help Tally, who is there to help her sister Luanne (Deedee Pfieffer, Michelle's real-life sister). The drama, as played by Pfieffer and Redford and directed by Avent, was forced. It was like watching them rehearsing to learn their lines rather than being authentic.

Other elements, like Kate Nelligan as Joannan Kennelly, one of the ex-Mrs. Justice, felt added to the already punishing two-hour runtime. Joe Mantegna looked more amused than involved, as if he figured Up Close & Personal was not going to do much for him or his character. 

The big claim to fame that Up Close & Personal has is its love theme. Celine Dion sings Because You Loved Me during Tally and Warren's romantic interlude, which became a number one hit. The song is fine. It has stood the test of time. I am not a Celine Dion fan. However, I have to acknowledge that Because You Love Me works separate from Up Close & Personal. I think the lyrics are a bit grandiose for the story and the trysts the film sets it in. Overall, though, Because You Loved Me works well and I don't fault people for loving it so.

Up Close & Personal was a big hit, with audiences embracing its sappy manner. I found it long, slightly silly. The prison riot sequence looked tacked on to build suspense. It is a lovely coincidence how Fernando, the Florida prisoner whom Rob didn't want to give the layette to because of his background, ended up in a Pennsylvania prison. 

Other elements have not aged it well. One pitched story is how a "cross dresser" (their words) made it to the Miss Florida finals. The WMIA crew finds that story hilarious. Nowadays, that "cross dresser" would be considered a legitimate finalist. 

Up Close & Personal is longer than it needs to be. It is not well acted or written. It is a disservice to make Jessica Savitch's story into a sappy love story just because it stars two beautiful people. "I'm everything I am Because You Loved Me", Dion coos to us. What ultimately Up Close & Personal isn't is good, no matter how much it is loved. 

DECISION: C-

Reminders of Him: A Review

REMINDERS OF HIM

Apart from Regretting You (known in my family as "the adultery movie"), I am unfamiliar with the works of Colleen Hoover. Therefore, I cannot say if Reminders of Him is a good or bad adaptation. Nor can I say that the original novel is good or bad. I judge only what I see on the screen. Reminders of Him is awful. Sappy and insipid, with almost universally awful performances, Reminders of Him should best be forgotten.

Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) has returned to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after being gone for six years. Where was she in those years? Up the river, serving time for vehicular manslaughter. She was in a car accident that killed her boyfriend, Scotty Landry (Rudy Pankow). 

Scotty is also her baby daddy. Shortly after his death and her incarceration, Kenna discovers that she got knocked up. She gave birth to her daughter Diem in prison. Diem (Zoe Kosovic), unaware of any of this, has been raised by Scotty's parents Grace (Laura Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford). Diem has also been raised, unofficially, by Scotty's best friend Ledger (Tyriq Withers). He has been devoted to Diem ever since Scotty's death, showering her with all the love and affection any father would have given her.

Let me pause for a moment here to point out that our character's names are Diem and Ledger. I might be the only one who thinks that they are incredibly stupid names. Kenna is barely hanging on in the not-oddball name department. 

Ledger was a Denver Brocos superstar until injuries forced him to leave the NFL. Now, he runs a bar at what used to be Scotty and Kenna's favorite coffeehouse/bookstore hangout. Ledger finds Kenna quite attractive. He also is unaware of who Kenna actually is. Despite being Scotty's BFF, he has seen only a mugshot of Kenna. Kenna, however, realizes who Ledger is when he tells her his name.

Kenna is desperate to see Diem. Grace and Patrick will have none of it. Kenna struggles to find work. Fortunately, grocery store assistant manager Amy Matthews (Lainey Wilson) helps her get a job as a bagger. She also finds an unexpected friend in Lady Diana (Monika Myers), another checkout girl who lives in Kenna's rundown apartment complex and has Down's syndrome.

Ledger struggles with both his growing attraction to Kenna and seeing her as a decent person who made a terrible mistake. Taking pity on her, Ledger gives her a part-time job and does his best to keep Grace and Patrick from finding out about Kenna. Eventually, they do consummate their relationship. The truth about Scotty's accident is revealed. The affair is also discovered. Will everyone be able to heal? Will our poor Diem finally meet her mommy?

Tripe. Reminders of Him is tripe. Do not get me wrong. I could accept some cinematic tripe if the premise or the performances are even halfway decent. Reminders of Him, however, has almost nothing to recommend it. 

As a side note, based just on the plots of both Regretting You and Reminders of Him, Colleen Hoover has an apparent fixation with women getting knocked up, car accidents killing those who knocked up said women and people connected to those killed in said car accidents having sex with each other. Make of that what you will.

Reminders of Him goes beyond the implausible to being ridiculous. Nothing, but nothing will convince me that Ledger had never seen a single photo of Kenna or vice versa. Apparently, Ledger was always too busy with the Denver Broncos to ever meet Scotty's great love. I suppose that Scotty could never text Ledger a photo or selfie of them. I figure that Scotty and Kenna never saw Ledger play on television. Just as Scotty never showed Ledger a single image of Kenna, I suppose that Scotty never showed Kenna a single image of Ledger. I suppose that Kenna was never curious enough to look up Ledger online, with him being a National Football League player. 

I might, might give a bit of leeway that Kenna and Ledger's appearances might have changed in the six years since her incarceration. That, to my mind, is stretching things beyond the plausible. I also know that Reminders of Him follows my Number One Golden Rule of Filmmaking: Something Will Happen if the Plot Requires it To. 

Does the plot, with the screenplay cowritten by Colleen Hoover and Lauren Levine, require that every man Kenna meets fall passionately in love with her? The "meet cute" for Kenna and Scotty is how he keeps buying items at the dollar store she works until she agrees to a date. The "meet cute" for Kenna and Ledger has him all but asking her out when she goes into the bar that first night. Kenna is catnip to all the young, eligible men in this small town. Reminders of Him makes Ledger, quite frankly, into a bit of a stalker.

Somehow, Reminders of Him made almost everyone unlikable, even Diem (which I still think is a simply frightful name). Ledger has no struggles schtupping the woman everyone blames for killing his bestest best friend. Patrick and Grace offer no grace (and part of me thinks that the name choice is meant to be ironic to symbolic). Is Ledger keeping score? Is Diem seizing the opportunity? 

Vanessa Caswill's directing of her actors does not help matters. Tyriq Withers showcased his taut body and no acting range in the horrendous Him. Reminders of Him does less of the former and more of the latter. Tyriq Withers cannot even run the gamut from A to B. It would be an acting miracle if he could show any emotion whatever. He speaks his lines as if almost drugged. No matter what the scene, no matter what the emotion, Withers is consistently comatose. At least he is pretty.

As another side note, I have seen Tyriq Withers in Him and Reminders of Him. Reminders of Him are the last thing that I need while watching Reminders of Him.

Rudy Pankow made Scotty less the lovelorn young man and more the irresponsible dolt who caused his own death. We see in the flashback that he gave Kenna something to make themselves high. As such, she was basically intoxicated thanks to him. While it is terrible that a simple pothole got her to lose control of the vehicle, it did get them to both stop singing Coldplay's Yellow, so there's that.

Both Bradley Whitford and Lauren Graham were one note as Patrick and Grace. I think Graham was miscast. She seemed to have only one expression throughout the film. I kept thinking that maybe Marcia Gay Harden would have been better in the role. Whitford, for his part, spoke his lines with slightly more conviction than Withers.

If anything makes Reminders of Him watchable, it is Maika Monroe. It is not a great performance. However, you can see that Monroe is expressing more of Kenna's conflict. She makes Kenna a flawed but basically decent person. Her anger at not being able to see Diem and slight amusement at Lady Diana's constant retort of "Jerk!" to Ledger make her performance one worth watching. She shows Kenna's regrets, hesitancy, doubts, guilt and genuine desire to improve things where she can. Monika Myers is a delight as Lady Diana. There is something amusing about how blunt she is. Lady Diana has no problem walking in and out of Kenna's apartment, nor any problem saying what she thinks. 

Lainey Wilson is mostly known for her country music. Her role in Reminders of Him is small. However, she acquits herself well as Amy, the compassionate assistant manager who wants to help Kenna back on her feet. 

Apart from Maika Monroe and Monika Myers, the only positives in Reminders of Him is the soundtrack. I enjoyed the use of Lord Huron's The Night We Met. I would get the soundtrack, as the film has many good songs. It does go into a bit of a cliche to have a hip soundtrack underscore the mood. However, I like to find some positives in a film, even one as weak as Reminders of Him.

Sappy, silly, but with a couple of good performances, Reminders of Him will pretty much be forgotten by the time the credits start rolling. 

DECISION: D-

Lucky Lady: A Review

LUCKY LADY

Sometimes, what looks good on paper does not end up good at all. Such is the case with Lucky Lady. It has some great music, including two relatively unknown Kander & Ebb songs written for their unofficial muse. Unfortunately, a nice soundtrack cannot carry a film that tries too hard to end up nowhere. 

Tijuana, 1930. Down on her luck American chanteuse Claire (Liza Minelli) sings for her supper in a rundown dive. Her late husband Harry, who owned the bar, was also a human smuggler. Now, Claire's lover Ellison Walker (Burt Reynolds) will do "one last job" of smuggling Mexicans across the border. As is the case with all "one last jobs", Walker's coyote run ends disastrously. Adding to his troubles is Kibby Womack (Gene Hackman). He was one of the men Walker was going to smuggle despite Kibby being American.

Kibby forces himself on Walker and Claire on their newest venture. They will smuggle rum to thirsty Americans despite Prohibition. That does mean getting the booze away from Christie McTeague (John Hillerman). The mobster is not amused. Neither is Coast Guard Captain Aaron Moseley (Geoffrey Lewis). Our trio is attempting to smuggle the booze via sea on the Lucky Lady. Captain Moseley is on to them. He won't be bribed and comes close to killing them. 

Eventually though, thanks to help from the sole Lucky Lady crewman, Billy Weber (Robby Benson), Claire, Walker and Kibby manage to outwit and outrun the Coast Guard. Claire now has two lovers and she ain't ashamed. Arriving in San Diego, the three are going for their curious living arrangements and live together. The past, however, is never far behind. McTeague is set on getting them for getting the better of him. Not everyone will survive to see happy days again.

Lucky Lady has exactly one positive: its soundtrack. The film is filled with Jazz Age standards like Bessie Smith's Hot Time in the Ole Town Tonight and Young Woman Blues. There's a rendition of All I Do is Dream of You, sung deliberately badly by a lounge singer at the hotel our trio is staying in. I do not know if including All I Do is Dream of You was an in-joke by director Stanley Donen. His most famous film is probably Singin' in the Rain, and All I Do is Dream of You is prominently featured in that film. We even get Burt Reynolds belting out a little of Ain't Misbehavin'. I suspect that after listening to Reynolds warbling the Fats Waller standard, one can guess why his musical At Long Last Love bombed so spectacularly.  

The film also features two new songs written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. Kander & Ebb found their muse in Liza Minnelli. Their two songs for her, Lucky Lady and (Get) While the Getting is Good, are good numbers. Minnelli and Kander & Ebb were almost always in top form whenever they collaborated. 

Unfortunately, that was the only good collaboration Lucky Lady saw. You had three strong actors in the leading roles. You had a celebrated director. What you did not have was a good script. It is unclear of the Gloria Katz and William Huyck screenplay was what ultimately appeared on screen. What did end up on screen was a very jumbled affair. It aimed to be zany and a bit of screwball. However, there was no sense of timing. Take for example a scene where Kibby is taunting Captain Moseley about escaping. The mad captain starts shooting at Kibby but keeps missing hitting him. Walker jumps off the lifeboat while a supposedly oblivious Kibby keeps mocking him. The comedy comes from how apparently Kibby is unaware that he is literally sinking. 

As played by Gene Hackman, it looks forced. It does look like Hackman is aware that it is meant to be funny. He just cannot play it as funny. The boat chase between McTeague and our bootleggers is also meant to be a bit funny, and even perhaps exciting. However, the overall result in Lucky Lady is that it is neither. 

I do not necessarily fault the actors. I think Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds and Gene Hackman did try. It might be a case of them trying too hard. One senses throughout Lucky Lady that the three of them were too smart for the material. It is as if they knew all this was idiotic and were waiting for their checks to deposit. Minnelli, I think, tried the hardest to sell the premise. She was fine when she was singing. She was not bad when she was acting. She just couldn't make the menage a trois believable because she did not have much chemistry with Hackman or Reynolds.

Burt Reynolds, I think, thought that he would be best served by going broad. He wasn't. It looked forced and unnatural. The same with Hackman. Again, they were all good actors. They did their best. They just could not make things zany. Worse is when Lucky Lady shifts into some surprisingly dark drama. How else to explain that this comedy has a violent end to an innocent? 

Not that some part of the viewer would feel for Billy. Robby Benson is a curious player here. He was totally blank as this kid. Part of me found it almost amusing that his soft voice was not heard unless absolutely necessary. It was as if the filmmakers figured it would be best to keep Benson's dialogue to a bare minimum. Lucky Lady was released before another film of his, Tribute. When comparing his performances in both, somehow Robby Benson got worse as an actor. Geoffrey Lewis was too cartoonish as Captain Moseley. I figure that the character was meant to be ridiculous. Lewis never made him plausibly ridiculous. 

Only John Hillerman managed to make his character of McTeague a genuine menace. However, I would say that Hillerman acted as if Lucky Lady were a neo-noir drama and not a zany screwball comedy. 

Lucky Lady aimed for screwball hijinks with a daring suggestion of a threesome. The pacing, however, was a bit off. Things were played a bit too broadly or seriously. The balance was off. It would be better to listen to the soundtrack than try to figure out exactly what Lucky Lady is about. Lucky Lady is neither. 

DECISION: D-

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: A Review

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

I think most if not all of us have had that one love whom we still pine for despite the hurt they caused us. That makes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind relatable despite its whacked-out premise and style. Well-acted, directed and written, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will reward those who watch the film.

It is Valentine's Day, 2004. This, however, is not a joyful day for Joel Barish (Jim Carrey). It is a dark, satanic holiday, as he has no love of his own. Almost on a whim, he opts not to go to work but to take a different train. Here, he meets the very quirky Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet). She seems a bit of a manic pixie dream girl. She is also assertive and aggressive. However, they seem to find themselves drawn to each other. 

There is a fly in the ointment to this budding romance. That would be Patrick (Elijah Wood), the man puzzled to find Joel waiting outside Clementine's apartment. Patrick appears to be Clementine's real boyfriend. However, not everything is as it seems. Joel finds that he and Clementine were involved in the recent past. She has opted to remove him from her memory. Now, Joel has opted to do the same. For that, he turns to the same company that Clementine used: Lacuna, Incorporated.

Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) appears to be a benevolent figure. He needs all of Joel's memories of Clementine to start the removal process. That process will require that Lacuna's operatives go to Joel's apartment at night to remove all those memories. One of the operatives, Stan (Mark Ruffalo) is seeing Dr. Mierzwiak's loyal secretary Mary (Kirsten Dunst). She comes during the procedure for some drinking, drugging and schtupping. Stan's right-hand man seems more interested in keeping his new girlfriend, whom he nicknames "Tangerine" from going off the deep end.

That right-hand man? Patrick. That new girlfriend? Clementine.

While Joel knows that Clementine had her memories of him removed, he is unaware that Patrick has been using them to get his own hands on our manic pixie dream girl. Joel also has a change of heart and wants to keep his memories. That requires a few mind tricks of his own, which the whacked-out Stan cannot figure out how to counter. This will require the personal intervention of Dr. Mierzwiak, who has a few secrets of his own. Will Mary be the key in getting our lovebirds together? Will Joel and Clementine find a tabula rasa for their bad romance? 

The title Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes from a line from the Alexander Pope poem Eloisa to Abelard. Mary, who carries a torch for Dr. Mierzwiak, quotes it to him in an effort to impress her potentially unrequited love. In her efforts to impress, she mistakenly refers to the author as "Pope Alexander", with Dr. Mierzwiak gently correcting her. I mention this because the title Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind now carries what I think was Pope's idea of the beauty of not remembering. It would, perhaps, be bliss. However, it would not be life. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind makes the case that love is not all rainbows and lollipops. It is enduring heartache. It is sadness. True love, however, is in going past that to find what it is about the other that both drew us to them and holds us to them. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is wildly inventive thanks to director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (with story credit by Gondry, Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth). The film carries a logic to its eccentric story. It trusts the audience to keep up, adding bits of details that will, in the end, make sense. It also carries humor outside the somewhat melancholy love story. That is provided by Stan and Mary. These two, in the throes of a clandestine affair, are delightful oblivious to Joel's plight as he internally rebels against his memory erasure.

The film also has exceptional performances all around. I admit that I am not a Kate Winslet fan. However, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an extremely strong performance from her. Clementine initially appears to be that manic pixie dream girl, quirky and whacky and flighty. However, as the film goes on, we see her as aggressive and assertive. She is not there to fix Joel's problems. She sometimes causes them. Clementine is a fascinating character, one who operates on her own logic yet is vulnerable and searching for love.

Jim Carrey too excels as Joel. This is a change of pace for the manic comic. He is morose and heartbroken. He also, though, carries a curious hope that despite the travails of love, Joel can still find someone. It is a bit of a surprise that while Winslet was singled out for Oscar consideration, Carrey was not. He was a major component of what made Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind successful. Joel was a bit of an everyman. He was a bit down on himself. He was hurt and wounded by love. Despite that, he was still something of a romantic. It was as good a performance as Kate Winslet's. 

The rest of the cast was equally strong. Elijah Wood's Patrick, I would argue, technically committed medical malpractice by using Joel's files to use on Clementine. However, his bumbling was amusing. Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst played well against each other. Dunst in particular had a wonderful arc, shifting from efficient and somewhat dismissive of patients to a de facto whistleblower. Tom Wilkinson made the bad doctor's fake sincerity amusing and droll. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has some arresting visual sequences and an effective Jon Brion score. All the elements blended well in making this bizarre love story surprisingly relatable. 

"Memories may be beautiful and yet, what's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget. So it's the laughter, we will remember, whenever we remember The Way We Were". Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind did not quote directly from The Way We Were. However, the lyrics to the Barbra Streisand song sum up what Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is about. Memories of love, too painful to remember, can be forgotten if one thinks that the love is worth it. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an eccentric love story. Then again, so many love stories are eccentric to begin with. 

DECISION: B+

Howards End: A Review (Review #2180)

HOWARDS END

We might be giving our ancestors a bit of an unfair rap. We might look up the Edwardians as staid, emotionless, frigid figures. If one goes by Howards End, these were actually very lustful albeit more restrained individuals. This adaptation of the E.M. Foster novel stays true to the Merchant Ivory standard of repressed passion amidst the lavish production. Howards End, while I bit slow and long, still has enough to make it lush and insightful viewing.

A rushed, secret engagement between the wealthy Paul Wilcox (Joseph Bennett) and middle-class Helen Schlagel (Helena Bonham Carter) delights and surprises her family. They quickly call it off but are too late to stop the telegram informing Helen's family of that fact. Helen's Aunt Juley (Prunella Scales) unexpectedly arrives at the Wilcox retreat of Howards End to look over her prospective relations. She is shocked to find that no one knew of the engagement and is made to look foolish.

Some months later, the Wilcoxes take up an apartment across from the Schlagels. Despite their initial botched interactions, Helen's older sister Margaret (Emma Thompson) and Wilcox matriarch Ruth (Vanessa Redgrave) become fast friends. Ruth's family is not unkind towards the matriarch. They just live their lives and do not offer much in terms of company or intellectual enrichment. Margaret does. It is to where, on her deathbed, Ruth wills Howards End to Margaret. The note, however, is scribbled and barely legible. Ruth's husband Henry (Anthony Hopkins), with his children and their spouses' consent, burn the dubious will and agree never to speak of it again. 

Margaret and Helen are intellectuals who host salons with their brother Tibby (Adrian Ross Magenty). One of those is Leonard Bast (Samuel West). Helen and Leonard, who is less well-off than the upper-middle class Schlagels, meet somewhat cute when Helen takes Leonard's umbrella after a music recital/discussion. They quickly befriend Leonard, who works at an insurance company. They also have kept a connection with the Wilcox family. Turning to Henry for advice to help Leonard, he tells them that Leonard's company is in reality coming close to insolvency. He recommends that they advise him to leave and find a lower paying but safer job.

Henry and Margaret have by now married. They are content in their new relationship. Everyone else is not. Henry and Ruth's children Charles (James Wilby), Evie (Jemma Redgrave) and Charles' wife Dolly (Susie Lindeman) all find the Schlagels rather bourgeois. That does not bother Margaret or Helen as they are proudly that. Things come to a head at Evie's wedding. An enraged Helen arrives with both Leonard and his wife Jacky (Nicola Duffett). Leonard's former business did not fail as Henry told them. That left Leonard in worse financial shape, and Helen blames Henry for deliberately ruining them. Things grow more complicated when Jacky recognizes Henry and drunkenly reveals that she was his former mistress.

Despite that, Margaret forgives Henry's indiscretion. Howards End is a de facto storage for Margaret and Helen's property until everyone can decide what can be done. One thing that apparently won't be done is host Helen at Howards End. Helen and Leonard have indulged in the pleasures of the flesh. There is now clear-cut evidence of their liaison growing within Helen's body. Helen is not ashamed. Henry is enraged. Margaret is shocked by both Helen's actions and Henry's hypocrisy. Things, however, lead to murder and, after some time, Margaret ends up receiving Howards End as her own property, fulfilling Ruth's original directive.

I think that Merchant Ivory productions have a perhaps unfair stereotype of being all posh and grandiose settings that say nothing about today. Seeing Howards End, I think we see how the more things change, the more that they stay the same. The same issues of class, of the heart versus the head, are really not that different from the Edwardian era to today. Granted, the out-of-wedlock situation that Helen has might not carry the same stigma that it would in the early 1910s. However, it would still be something of a scandal since Helen did get knocked up by a married man.

Something that did surprise me about Howards End is how, under James Ivory's direction, the film played a bit like an Edwardian screwball comedy. This is particularly true when the thoroughly befuddled Mr. Bast crashes the Schlagel tea party. The dialogue has an amusing manner when the Schlagel siblings and Mr. Bast discuss scones. 

In the film, we see the conflicting worldviews of the Wilcox and Schlagel families. The former is proper, restrained. The latter is more informal and curious about the world. That is not to say that the Schlagel sisters see things alike. Margaret remains within the boundaries of Edwardian society. She is an intellectual, aware of the world. She also does not approve of Helen's indiscretions and is shocked when her sister crashes Evie's wedding with the Basts. She is obedient to her husband, but she is also quietly forceful in pointing out his hypocrisy and cruelty. "You had a mistress, and I forgave you. My sister has a lover, and you drive her out of the house. Why can you not be honest for once in your life. Why can't you say what Helen has done, I have done", she tells Henry.   

What makes this scene more impactful is more than just Margaret pointing out Henry's double standards. It is in Emma Thompson's Academy Award-winning performance. James Ivory, who was nominated for his directing, led Thompson to not make this a big, dramatic moment. Instead, as Thompson plays the scene, it is of a woman genuinely hurt, confused and determined to have things exact. She does not shout or rage at Henry. Her declaration is not one of fury. It is one of pain and puzzlement. Ruth tells Margaret, "You're so clever, yet so good". That is an apt a descriptor for Margaret as one can find. 

Margaret Schlagel Wilcox is a fascinating character. She is thoroughly Edwardian in behavior, yet far more progressive in outlook. She is direct but sensible. She supports suffrage but will not go against her husband on most matters. Emma Thompson gives a magnificent performance.

Everyone in Howards End gives excellent performances. That is a major credit to James Ivory as a director. Anthony Hopkins is not overtly cruel as Henry Wilcox. Instead, he is a man trapped by his own worldview, one where one can feel for the poor but think it is the way of the world. Vanessa Regrave, who was the other nominated performance (Thompson as pointed out winning), is moving as the dying matriarch who is seeing her world shift in ways that she does not understand. Helena Bonham Carter excels as the passionate Helen. She is moral outrage and morally outrageous. 

The film is appropriately sumptuous visually with its Oscar-nominated costumes and Oscar-winning art direction. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Oscar-winning screenplay adaptation has some wonderful mise-en-scene. When Leonard and Helen finally give in to the temptations of the flesh, it is as they row down the river. We see them metaphorically and literally flowing into dangerous waters.

Howards End might be a bit longer than some viewers may like, clocking in at almost two-and-a-half hours. It might also be a bit too posh for some. That, hopefully, is not something to keep viewers away from an intelligent, well-acted and well-crafted film. Howards End moves well and tells its story of repressed and open passions with great power. 

DECISION: A-